It all began about a year ago when Stan Vandiver, W4SV, took on a massive effort to revive
Northwest Indiana's Chapter 36 of the QCWA. Chapter 36 had been dormant for a great many years
when Stan began e-mailing and calling hams in the Northwest Indiana region to see if they were
interested in joining and reviving Chapter 36. It only took a few monthly meetings and Chapter
36 was running at full speed again with a current membership of 26 full members, 49 chapter guests
and still growing. I had been a ham for 49 years when Stan called and would you believe it,
never joined QCWA with almost half a century as a ham? So thanks to Stan's effort I have discovered
another enjoyable aspect of ham radio.
Our chapter covers hams in six adjoining counties so as I attended meetings I was introduced to
several neighboring hams I had never met before. One of those hams was Danny Scheetz, W9DWS. A
number of years ago, Danny purchased an old AT&T 200 foot cement microwave tower. They were being
sold off as obsolete structures due to technology changing the entire approach to terrestrial microwave
& telephony communication transport systems. You will remember those towers I am sure, they speckled
our countryside as pillars of esteemed point-to-point relay structures for AT&T. Back when we were
growing up, it was every hams dream to use one of those towers for ham radio purposes instead of passing
signals that contained video images of Johnny Carson, radio broadcast, or other high-end communication
packages. When I finally paid a visit to Dan's tower and looked upward, those old desires to engage
in a ham radio activity at one of them came back instantly.
Dan, as a collector of vintage ham radio equipment had already established a nice looking ham shack
on the first floor of the tower. So it was now just a matter of asking Dan if he would be interested
in hosting the first use of one Chapter 36's newly issued call signs, K9QCW, in the upcoming November
2009 CW Sweepstakes. Dan graciously agreed and gave us the use of his radio room as well as his existing
antenna system to launch K9QCW for our first CW contest. Operators for this contest included myself,
K9WWT, Tom Ruggles, W8FIB and John Nason, NA9U, with members of Chapter 36 stopping by over the weekend
to view the operation.
What made this contest experience unique and set apart from the many I have operated was the
environment in which we operated as well as rested. Our station, which consisted of a Ten Tec Orion 2
and a Kenwood TL-922 amplifier, was set up inside the 200 foot AT&T tower in the middle of the radio
room against a backdrop of Collins and other vintage ham radio equipment dating back to the golden era
of radio. An operator could move back and forth in time by merely taking his eyes off the logging
software, and scanning the room for glimpses of what radio communication was once like 50 years ago.
To further highlight this experience, Danny has placed around the room several books, neon signs, fans,
microphones, and manuals from that era. For a moment there I felt as if I were in the movie Blade Runner
dispatching important security messages for the Tyrell Corporation instead of operating a ham radio
contest! When not operating, one could pick up a book containing the history of Hallicrafters receivers
and transmitters, or a manual for the Collins 'S' Line and slip back to a time when radio communication
was not only bigger than life and exotic, but CHEAPER! One only had to spend a few hours in the radio
room to gather an appreciation for how far ham radio communication as come.
Danny's tower and adjacent building are sort of a gathering point for what could best be described
as a little family of enthusiasts of vintage radio, railroad, and other collectibles that cover a wide
range of history and interests. Different people will stop by over the course of a weekend just to have
a cup of coffee and exchange stories of their latest endeavors in collecting. While there, we were
treated to stories of the bar we sat at upon which once sat Marilyn Monroe & John Wayne and was owed by
the owner of the Indianapolis 500 at one time. In the railroad arena Matt Lasayko, KC9KUD, shared with
us an absolutely fascinating story of the retrieval of a 1930's triple GRS type SA railroad searchlight
signal owned by the Michigan Central Railroad. After monitoring its status daily for 2 years, they were
alerted they only had a matter of hours to remove it from the railroad property or loose it to the scrap
pile. Later, installing it on Danny's property was another massive project. Not only were our minds well
fed that weekend but also so were our stomachs. Matt and his friend Anthony Stanley fired up the grill
cooking some mighty tasty hamburgers for our evening meal. As guests of Danny, we lacked for nothing.
By 9PM Sunday evening K9QCW's first on the air activity had achieved 826 QSOs and 76 sections within
the fully allotted 24 hours of operating time. A special thanks goes to Danny, W9DWS, for the use of his
tower, amplifier, and marvelous facilities. It was an experience for our ham radio scrap book and one we
will remember for a long time to come. Look for Chapter 36 in the next QCWA QSO party in the spring of
2010, when we will be using our second issued call, W9EGQ in memory of Herb Brier a local hero and long
time member of Chapter 36.
Read or save George's full text in Microsoft Word format.
Did you work us? See the full K9QCW log from this contest here.
All pictures above and below are clickable for larger view. Email if you want a higher resolution copy of George's or Stan's pics. Tom's pics, when clicked, are the highest resolution available.
These pics from George K9WWT:
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These pics from Tom W8FIB:
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These pics from Stan W4SV:
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